The Green Dragons quieted Wellesley's explosive offense Thursday night in a 10-5 win that sends them into Tuesday's sectional title game at Harvard.

Sebastian LenaFor The Patriot Ledger

DUXBURY – Just when it seems the defense couldn’t get any better, the Duxbury boys lacrosse team goes out and proves otherwise.

Fighting through a torrential downpour and gusty winds at Chandler Field, the Green Dragons smothered Wellesley, 10-5, in the Division 1 South Sectional semifinals Thursday night.

Top-seeded Duxbury (18-3) has won eight straight and has secured a spot in Tuesday’s sectional final (5:30 p.m., Harvard Stadium) against either No. 2 Needham (18-2) or No. 3 Xaverian (17-3). Those teams square off in their semifinal tonight at 7 at Needham.

The Green Dragons had made 11 straight state finals, winning nine times, before they were upset by BC High in the first round last season. Duxbury’s playoff run this spring has been fueled by defense – only nine goals allowed in three games.

“The defense has been doing it for us all year,” said Duxbury coach Chris Sweet. “(Tonight) we just tried to limit Wellesley’s chances with the ball, because when they did have the ball, they were tough. I think we did a good job of that.”

The fourth-seeded Raiders (16-5) showed just how tough they could be offensively, getting on the scoring sheet first courtesy of senior long-stick midfielder Sean Mathews. However, that wouldn’t last long as Duxbury responded by scoring eight of the game’s next nine goals, to hold a commanding 8-2 lead midway through the third quarter.

Brendan Burke, Wesley Quinzani and Niall Dillon all scored twice for the Dragons.

Although the offense was certainly noteworthy, it’s the Dragons’ defense that is deserving of all the praise. Wellesley came in averaging 14 goals per game over its last seven.

“Our goal is to keep (opponents) under six goals,” said junior defender Liam Stauss. “Every day in practice we’re just working to get better. We watched some film on (Wellesley) and we saw a lot of them like to shoot, so we just wanted to get in their heads and make them less comfortable when they had the ball.”

Second-half goals by Kerry Lyne, Matt Dzima and Mathews saw the Raiders close the gap to 9-5 in the fourth quarter. But with just 3:37 remaining, they were more consolation prices than actual hope.

Duxbury’s defense was just too good.

“When we play loose and free, we’re a pretty good team. But tonight we weren’t able to do that,” Wellesley coach Rocky Batty said. “That’s a result of Duxbury bringing pressure defensively. Overall, it was a terrific season and if we could do this every year, we’ll take it. Maybe we’ll win one more next time.”

The Div. 1 state final (South champ vs. North champ) will be played at Boston University on June 14.